“Listen to me, you just got to have a room with a balcony!”
This is what I heard from an individual I called in the beginning of this week. It all started when I received a call from a dear friend of ours, a businessman and a frequent visitor to Taiwan. He was planning his trip, and subsequently, his inevitable stay of two weeks in quarantine.
Our friend was invited to Taiwan by Executive Yuan, but that apparently was not enough to exempt him from the mandatory quarantine. He had asked me to recommend a hotel for him, something near us so that we can send him kosher meals every day.
I called another businessman I know, who was nearing the end of his quarantine, to seek advice.
“Balcony, you’ll go crazy without a balcony! No matter the room size—as long as you have a balcony.”
It seemed a little odd at the time, but I relayed that to our friend, who decided to go with a suite in one of the nicer hotels in town (without a balcony). Apparently, the person finishing the quarantine was absolutely right! Our friend called me today and said as much.
Yes, it is nice to have a bigger room, but little did he (or I) know, the one thing you miss the most is fresh air! When you have a balcony you can step outside (well, not literally), breathe fresh air and feel like you are not trapped.
Apparently, even if you really have a spacious room, after a little while you feel like the walls are closing in on you. Since his room is at the end of the hall across from an emergency exit door, he managed to persuade the hotel staff to open the emergency exit and have his room open for a few minutes a day just to breath! Can you imagine?
“I spoke to my 8-year old daughter this morning,” she told me. “Please, on your way to school, take a deep breath and think about me.”
It all made me think how we sometimes take things for granted. Some of these are the most elementary things, such as fresh air. When was the last time you thought about it? People often say that’s how we are – we only appreciate something when it is taken away from us. But I am sure we can learn to do better with what we have now. So, wherever you are, take a moment to think about the wonderful things G-d has blessed you with.
I am certain we all have a long list if we stop and think about it.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Shlomi Tabib
Photo by Francesca Tosolini on Unsplash
